Oedipus Trilogy Part 28

GUARD Well, it must out; the corpse is buried; someone E'en now besprinkled it with thirsty dust, Performed the proper ritual--and was gone.

CREON What say'st thou? Who hath dared to do this thing?

GUARD I cannot tell, for there was ne'er a trace Of pick or mattock--hard unbroken ground, Without a scratch or rut of chariot wheels, No sign that human hands had been at work.

When the first sentry of the morning watch Gave the alarm, we all were terror-stricken.

The corpse had vanished, not interred in earth, But strewn with dust, as if by one who sought To avert the curse that haunts the unburied dead: Of hound or ravening jackal, not a sign.

Thereat arose an angry war of words; Guard railed at guard and blows were like to end it, For none was there to part us, each in turn Suspected, but the guilt brought home to none, From lack of evidence. We challenged each The ordeal, or to handle red-hot iron, Or pa.s.s through fire, affirming on our oath Our innocence--we neither did the deed Ourselves, nor know who did or compa.s.sed it.

Our quest was at a standstill, when one spake And bowed us all to earth like quivering reeds, For there was no gainsaying him nor way To escape perdition: _Ye_are_bound_to_tell_ _The_King,_ye_cannot_hide_it; so he spake.

And he convinced us all; so lots were cast, And I, unlucky scapegoat, drew the prize.

So here I am unwilling and withal Unwelcome; no man cares to hear ill news.

CHORUS I had misgivings from the first, my liege, Of something more than natural at work.

CREON O cease, you vex me with your babblement; I am like to think you dote in your old age.

Is it not arrant folly to pretend That G.o.ds would have a thought for this dead man?

Did they forsooth award him special grace, And as some benefactor bury him, Who came to fire their hallowed sanctuaries, To sack their shrines, to desolate their land, And scout their ordinances? Or perchance The G.o.ds bestow their favors on the bad.

No! no! I have long noted malcontents Who wagged their heads, and kicked against the yoke, Misliking these my orders, and my rule.

'Tis they, I warrant, who suborned my guards By bribes. Of evils current upon earth The worst is money. Money 'tis that sacks Cities, and drives men forth from hearth and home; Warps and seduces native innocence, And breeds a habit of dishonesty.

But they who sold themselves shall find their greed Out-shot the mark, and rue it soon or late.

Yea, as I still revere the dread of Zeus, By Zeus I swear, except ye find and bring Before my presence here the very man Who carried out this lawless burial, Death for your punishment shall not suffice.

Hanged on a cross, alive ye first shall make Confession of this outrage. This will teach you What practices are like to serve your turn.

There are some villainies that bring no gain.

For by dishonesty the few may thrive, The many come to ruin and disgrace.

GUARD May I not speak, or must I turn and go Without a word?--

CREON Begone! canst thou not see That e'en this question irks me?

GUARD Where, my lord?

Is it thy ears that suffer, or thy heart?

CREON Why seek to probe and find the seat of pain?

GUARD I gall thine ears--this miscreant thy mind.

CREON What an inveterate babbler! get thee gone!

GUARD Babbler perchance, but innocent of the crime.

CREON Twice guilty, having sold thy soul for gain.

GUARD Alas! how sad when reasoners reason wrong.

CREON Go, quibble with thy reason. If thou fail'st To find these malefactors, thou shalt own The wages of ill-gotten gains is death.

[Exit CREON]

GUARD I pray he may be found. But caught or not (And fortune must determine that) thou never Shalt see me here returning; that is sure.

For past all hope or thought I have escaped, And for my safety owe the G.o.ds much thanks.

CHORUS (Str. 1) Many wonders there be, but naught more wondrous than man; Over the surging sea, with a whitening south wind wan, Through the foam of the firth, man makes his perilous way; And the eldest of deities Earth that knows not toil nor decay Ever he furrows and scores, as his team, year in year out, With breed of the yoked horse, the ploughshare turneth about.

(Ant. 1) The light-witted birds of the air, the beasts of the weald and the wood He traps with his woven snare, and the brood of the briny flood.

Master of cunning he: the savage bull, and the hart Who roams the mountain free, are tamed by his infinite art; And the s.h.a.ggy rough-maned steed is broken to bear the bit.

(Str. 2) Speech and the wind-swift speed of counsel and civic wit, He hath learnt for himself all these; and the arrowy rain to fly And the nipping airs that freeze, 'neath the open winter sky.

He hath provision for all: fell plague he hath learnt to endure; Safe whate'er may befall: yet for death he hath found no cure.

(Ant. 2) Pa.s.sing the wildest flight thought are the cunning and skill, That guide man now to the light, but now to counsels of ill.

If he honors the laws of the land, and reveres the G.o.ds of the State Proudly his city shall stand; but a cityless outcast I rate Whoso bold in his pride from the path of right doth depart; Ne'er may I sit by his side, or share the thoughts of his heart.

What strange vision meets my eyes, Fills me with a wild surprise?

Sure I know her, sure 'tis she, The maid Antigone.

Hapless child of hapless sire, Didst thou recklessly conspire, Madly brave the King's decree?

Therefore are they haling thee?

[Enter GUARD bringing ANTIGONE]

GUARD Here is the culprit taken in the act Of giving burial. But where's the King?

CHORUS There from the palace he returns in time.

[Enter CREON]

CREON Why is my presence timely? What has chanced?

GUARD No man, my lord, should make a vow, for if He ever swears he will not do a thing, His afterthoughts belie his first resolve.

When from the hail-storm of thy threats I fled I sware thou wouldst not see me here again; But the wild rapture of a glad surprise Intoxicates, and so I'm here forsworn.

And here's my prisoner, caught in the very act, Decking the grave. No lottery this time; This prize is mine by right of treasure-trove.

So take her, judge her, rack her, if thou wilt.

She's thine, my liege; but I may rightly claim Hence to depart well quit of all these ills.

CREON Say, how didst thou arrest the maid, and where?

GUARD Burying the man. There's nothing more to tell.

CREON Hast thou thy wits? Or know'st thou what thou say'st?

GUARD I saw this woman burying the corpse Against thy orders. Is that clear and plain?

CREON But how was she surprised and caught in the act?

GUARD It happened thus. No sooner had we come, Driven from thy presence by those awful threats, Than straight we swept away all trace of dust, And bared the clammy body. Then we sat High on the ridge to windward of the stench, While each man kept he fellow alert and rated Roundly the sluggard if he chanced to nap.

So all night long we watched, until the sun Stood high in heaven, and his blazing beams Smote us. A sudden whirlwind then upraised A cloud of dust that blotted out the sky, And swept the plain, and stripped the woodlands bare, And shook the firmament. We closed our eyes And waited till the heaven-sent plague should pa.s.s.

At last it ceased, and lo! there stood this maid.

A piercing cry she uttered, sad and shrill, As when the mother bird beholds her nest Robbed of its nestlings; even so the maid Wailed as she saw the body stripped and bare, And cursed the ruffians who had done this deed.

Anon she gathered handfuls of dry dust, Then, holding high a well-wrought brazen urn, Thrice on the dead she poured a l.u.s.tral stream.

We at the sight swooped down on her and seized Our quarry. Undismayed she stood, and when We taxed her with the former crime and this, She disowned nothing. I was glad--and grieved; For 'tis most sweet to 'scape oneself scot-free, And yet to bring disaster to a friend Is grievous. Take it all in all, I deem A man's first duty is to serve himself.

CREON Speak, girl, with head bent low and downcast eyes, Does thou plead guilty or deny the deed?